The World Wide Web (WWW) has provided a very effective system for sharing information between computing devices. New applications that take advantage of the functionality of the WWW help to improve the popularity of the WWW. Increases in the number of users of the WWW serves to provide further incentive to develop new applications.
Computer gaming is an area has received major advances from WWW related developments. Since its origins, dating back to the early seventies of the last century, computer gaming has undergone a period of substantial growth. In addition, computer games that make use of the WWW have broadened their role to support social interactions and interpersonal relationships. Specifically, such games support what is called “on-line computer gaming”. The seemingly ubiquitous nature of the Internet allows numerous games from all over the world the opportunity to interact together via on-line computer gaming.
Recently, computer gaming with on-line enabled platforms has gained tremendous popularity, and today thousands of gamers all around the world are playing relying on on-line connectivity. While some people stereotype such gamers as children most of whom are male, this is not accurate. Specifically gamers cover a wide range of ages. In addition, both females and males play computer games on-line. Predictably, the increasing computing power available to computing devices along with interactive on-line computer gaming are gradually providing convergence of games and entertainment media. Such convergence is believed to also provide numerous opportunities for new businesses.
Thus, due to their dynamic nature as well as due to their specific appeal to certain audiences, computer games and especially games played on Internet enabled platforms provide the ideal vehicle for dynamic advertising. Not only is it possible for an advertiser to directly target a specific group of customers, but advertisements directly incorporated into the computer games are also supported thereby providing product placement within the virtual environment of a video game. When presenting advertising data to a gamer during a video game session, it is important to provide the advertising data in an available fashion that does not compromise the quality of the advertisement or the quality of the game execution.
A method of providing advertising content when needed is to cache the advertising data within the gaming platform in anticipation of its being required. Then, when new advertising content is necessary, it merely replaces the existing advertising content. Unfortunately, this system supports advertisements displayed for long periods but is ill suited to rotating advertisements or to advertisements that change frequently.
It would be advantageous to provide a system and method that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.